Quiltastic

Hello readers.  I was just about to wish you a "Good Morning" only realised it is now past midday so that would have been inappropriate.  It just goes to show how the hours whizz by, though.  I've been up and busy since early this morning.  It was dark and gloomy and steadily, the day has improved weather-wise.  I have spent the morning doing something which is not one of my favourite chores.  But now it is done and I am relieved.  Phew!

Let's get on to one of my favourite subjects: quilt making.  It seems that I haven't shown you any of the quilts I've made for a while; truth be told that's because I love making them, oh yes indeedy, but I do rather loathe all the photographing and listing that then ensues.  Having sold the last two quilts in my shop, I thought I'd better pull my finger out (of its thimble?)

A little stack was awaiting me...

This time of year, my task of snapping and listing is doubly difficult because of the conditions outside.  Even if it is not raining, the ground is damp, as is just about everything else, including my washing line and bench so beloved for my little photo shoots.  Last time, when I snapped the Feedsack Frames quilt, I made do with the living room.  So this morning, it was time to push the furniture to the edges, razz round the hoover and get out the little step ladders.  Then I had to unfurl all the quilts and give them a good shake and a gentle iron.  Finding somewhere to put them to keep them smooth and fresh is the next challenge.  My furry supervisor seems disinterested in proceedings.

In fact, he's asleep on the job!  Are you sitting comfortably?  I have five quilts to show you!  

Just a minute, best check I am appropriately attired?

That will do nicely.  Off we go then.

First we have a simple rail fence design, this is a good one for a relative newbie should you fancy making your own, though you do have to take care to keep those strips straight. I chose my fave colours, pink and green of course, and that lavender-y blue which I so adore. 

I made this to take with me to road test new machines.  In fact, all but for one line, it ended up being quilted on Jenny Janome because she is the best!

I love it.  Simple, colourful and pretty.  It's a good size and feels a nice weight, too.  Looks good in the guest room, it has to be said!  But no, into the Etsy shop it goes. 

Who do we have next?  Let's go for something sweet and simple.  This one I also quilted on Jenny Janome, her first quilt, and my she is a top notch quilter.  This one is quite dinky, it would be perfect for a child's throw, cot or pram blanket I think, but would make a nice little lap blanket, too.  I took a charm pack of very pretty fabric which looked inspired by those yummy vintage sheets of the 1950s and '60s.  It was a range called "Dream On", out a few years ago, but would you believe that I somehow managed to lose it amongst my stash until recently.

I needed to supplement the charm pack (which is a pack of roughly 42 pre-cut 5" squares) with fabric from my stash, in the form of modern polka dots and the like and also, some real vintage sheeting.  

This morning, I've had fun turning the Munchkin's room into a girly den.  I love it.  Him?  Not so much.

I did quite a lot of quilting on this one, even though it's small, as I felt it would liven up the squares and well, I was enjoying the quilting so much, to be honest.  A touch of tangerine binding was the perfect finishing touch.  Groovy baby!

Onwards, let's hop to something rather colourful, shall we?  Remember that photo with the socks up there?  You do?  You also may remember this quilt when it was in its infancy?  First, I cut myself A LOT of strips of gorgeous fabrics, all inspired by feedsack quilts I had seen on Pinterest.  I sorted them into different widths and each went into a box.

Before long, such was my enthusiasm for this project, I was basting and pinning.  The Munchkin decided it made the perfect backdrop for his zoo???

I quilted this one very simply.  I've said it before, I will again: swirly twirly quilting is not really for me.  And certainly not on a quilt that's already this busy.

I really haven't been able to do this quilt justice with a photograph in this dingy weather.  It is much clearer and prettier "in real life".  Luckily, this is what my customers always say to me when they receive something from me!  It has a jazzy minty green backing and some rather striking binding.

Back to mellow, I decided a while back to try my hand at a "low volume" quilt.  This has been a bit of a trend in quilt making and involves the use of pale fabrics which aren't too shouty and arresting.  I'm not sure how successful I was at achieving my brief, pale is not really my thing, but I am pleased with the "sort of low volume" outcome.

I pinched the Munchkin's bed again; well, he does have the only single in the house!

Sigh!  How I wish it could stay looking this way.  Oh well, maybe somebody will buy it for their little princess and send me a snap, then I'll be content.  The fabrics may be pale in colour but they are certainly interesting in print.  Something to enjoy looking at each bedtime.

Talking of which, you may recall that I hopped on this years QAL (that's quilt-a-long to you and me) with the economy block quilt.  (Scroll down a little and you'll see my blog post with a few details in case you fancy it yourself.) This is a deceptively simple looking block.  There's a lot of precision cutting for a start, not to mention the time spent deliberating on choosing just the right fabrics.  No fabric is used twice in this quilt.  It pays to have a good stash.  I cut as I went along, making up enough for about ten blocks at a time.  I wanted to sew that many each day but I didn't always achieve my target.

Making each block was rather enjoyable.  Putting them together was a different ball game.  It was only then that it became apparent just how many points there were to join up.  Oooh, not sure I will tackle this again in a hurry!

Then there was all the sandwiching and pinning but that was the easy bit. Perhaps I will start doing that in my sleep soon.  I decided on very simple in-the-ditch quilting.  The quilt is so busy and colourful, I didn't think it could take an awful lot more.  Quilting can be solely utilitarian, for the purpose of holding the layers together, or it can be decorative.  Here, it was solely the former.

It's a fun quilt, that's for sure.  Each block has a fussy cut centre of novelty fabric, surrounded by two layers of complimentary jazzy fabrics.  I really pulled out a lot of my stash making this one.  I think it would definitely liven up bedtimes!  Think of all those stories to be made up, taking each block as a starting point.

Thank you so much for sticking with my quiltastic never-ending blog post today.  I hope it has inspired projects of your own or if not, a little spree in my Etsy shop!  It's always nice to treat yourself or someone special.  There you will find all of these quilts awaiting new homes, all sizes, all fabrics and for all purses!  

I need a sit down after all that.  But I think I might just make a start with these...

Xxx